The B-17 book

After the Mosquito title, Pen & Sword asked for one on the B-17 - I never could resist a challenge! It was time to get the partnership I had when I did the Memphis Belle title...

The history of what is possibly the most famous of all United States military aircraft from the Second World War era, the Boeing B-I7 Flying Fortress, has been substantially documented. In fact, an understandable reaction to this book  could be - ‘Oh no, not another book on the Flying Fortress!’
In recent years the design and use of the B-17 has achieved an almost mythical, ‘god-like’ status through the activities of a few so-called ‘third generation veterans’ - whatever that means - who love to over-glamourise the war-horse of their ancestors. To read some authors, one would have to believe that this huge bomber sprang fully formed out of the box it was delivered in clad in more armour than a tank and carrying more guns than a battleship!
As a result of the critical acclaim our ‘Memphis Belle - Dispelling the Myths’ received, we decided that there was a need for a similar work on the B-17 - to subject the design, in all its forms, to close scrutiny. Without doubt there is a clear, strong requirement to ‘put the record straight’ using primary source documentation to record the undoubted achievements alongside and in context with the shortcomings to the types design and operation that have otherwise received scant attention. There is also a matching need to look into the murky world of power politics and intrigue that hovered around the design through the early years.
This is not a book that details the many thousands of combat operations flown by incredibly brave aircrew in both the European and Pacific theatre of operations - we prefer to leave that to the likes of good friend and colleague Martin W Bowman, who does a far better job at that than we could ever do!
For around the first six years of its life the Boeing 299 design received what appears to be only grudging support from the Army Air Corps.  It was Great Britain who took the design into battle with what was then an un-developed machine, operating outside the original design envelope with only a small a number of aircraft instead of the massed formations of a few years later.
Lessons were learned and soon the ‘big assed bird’ - the B-17E appeared. Production increased dramatically with the Model F and G - so much so that the Boeing-Lockheed Vega - Douglas conglomerate was created, that in turn brought into being the Block Numbers and later Staging Lists systems that helped keep track of what modification state each aircraft was at.
Post-war, some Flying Fortresses had a brief but colourful career with the US Navy, the US Coastguard, and a few overseas air arms, while others were used for research projects or converted into pilotless drones and Borate bombers, all of which we decided to look at in some detail.
For many years there have been endless battles as to which was ‘best’ the B-17 or the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. We decided to carefully study not only those two designs in comparison, but also to put the B-17 up against other Axis and Allied designs of the time - the results were interesting to say the least!
‘The overall result is...’, as David Lee, the former Deputy Director of the Imperial War Museum at Duxford said upon reading the final proofs ‘...all you never knew about the B-17!’
        

Books with Pen & Sword and others!

The first of my series of books for Pen and Sword has just appeared in print - 'Mosquito the original Multi-Role Combat Aircraft' is NOT a re-print of the 1990 Arms and Armour Press book - I've jacked up the title and slid a brand new book underneath!

So... what can I say about it?

Throughout the history of aviation there have been very few aircraft designs that have achieved immediate success when entering front-line service. The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was one such machine: it proved to be a winner from the start.

The concept of an unarmed wooden bomber possessing the performance to out-fly all contemporary fighters originated in a progressive company, blessed with a design office made up of extremely gifted designers and highly talented engineers. All were prepared to demonstrate supreme faith in their ideas and incorporate into them a far-sighted understanding of the forthcoming conflict that was unmatched by others. Their efforts resulted in a completely radical private venture design, totally against the thinking of many members of the Air Ministry who were only prepared to consider metal machines bristling with defensive armament.

The battle to get the design into production continued until the last few days of 1939 when, due to the foresight and support of Sir Wilfred Freeman - the Air Council's Member for Research, Development and Production - a single machine was sanctioned as a light bomber with the ability to carry a 1,000 lb bomb load over a range of 1,500 miles. Such was the drive and determination within the company, that less than eleven months later the prototype Mosquito took to the air.

Flight tests soon established the machine as the world's fastest operational aircraft, a distinction that the type enjoyed for the next two and a half years. Being small and with the manoeuvrability of a fighter, the Mosquito was rapidly developed into a multi-purpose aircraft, a factor which allowed an increased economy of tooling in the factories of Britain, Canada and Australia. The bomber version increased its load and was eventually able to carry a single 4,000 pound 'Blockbuster' bomb, two 'Highball' bouncing bombs or a myriad of other explosive stores. It could also be used as a specialized target-marker from almost ground level to six miles high.

Although originally conceived as an unarmed bomber, fighter variants were rapidly developed. Armed with four 0.303 inch machine-guns in the nose and four 20mm Hispano cannon under the cockpit floor, the Mosquito took on the role of night-fighter defence of Great Britain during 1943. With minimal modification, the basic airframe was adapted to take airborne radar, thereby creating a formidable night-fighter version that prevented virtually any night intrusion by the enemy. Mosquitos had accounted for nearly 660 enemy aircraft destroyed by the end of November 1944 and brought down over 600 flying bombs during the first 60 nights of this new threat. The aircraft's armament became increasingly sophisticated: rocket projectiles slung under the wings allowed the Mosquito to pound ships, U-boats, harbour installations and other ground targets; and one variant was equipped with a 57mm cannon which automatically fired a six pound shell every one and a half seconds.

A combination of the two main aircraft requirements resulted in the creation of the fighter-bomber in 1941, a variant which was used extensively against the V-weapon sites and was later active in support of the D-Day landings. Of the more bizarre tasks performed, was that some machines were supposed to have delivered beer to the invasion beachhead!

Towards the end of the war the Mosquito was given a hook and folding wings to become the world's first twin-engined deck-landing aircraft - along with the ability to carry a eighteen-inch torpedo. The Mosquito was also the Allies' only real and effective long-range photo-reconnaissance and weather-reporting aircraft. It photographed and surveyed the whole of Europe to the borders of Russia, along with much of Africa and Asia. Urgent combat requirements consistently led from variant to variant as the war progressed. During the latter stages of the production run, the Air Ministry changed the mark designation system from Roman to Arabic, producing a much clarified system. However, in the interest of historical accuracy, both systems are used throughout this book.

From bomber to fighter, to photographic and weather reconnaissance, and also as a high-speed emergency airliner, the Mosquito airframe was easily modified to suit all needs. The combination of a superb airframe structure, coupled with a parallel effort to increase the power of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, meant that no matter what the requirement, whether it be increase in weight, or change in equipment, the DH.98 design could accommodate it; it was truly a multi-role combat aircraft.

This book takes the reader from conception - including the thinking behind the project - through the somewhat protracted birth and on into the development of what must be one of the most versatile aerial weapons systems ever devised.

This edition is not so much a revision as a ‘jack up the title and slide a new book underneath! The original 1990 book had been written to a much larger size, but was edited down to suit that publishers requirements. This edition has restored the work to its original what it was supposed to be and then revised to bring things up to date with current research.

If you get a copy - I hope you enjoy it!

Time for another post - it's only taken me two years!

The first of a series of books for Pen and Sword has just appeared in print - 'Mosquito the original Multi-Role Combat Aircraft' is NOT a re-print of the 1990 Arms and Armour Press book - I've jacked up the title and slid a brand new book underneath!

So... what can I say about it?

Throughout the history of aviation there have been very few aircraft designs that have achieved immediate success when entering front-line service. The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was one such machine: it proved to be a winner from the start.

The concept of an unarmed wooden bomber possessing the performance to out-fly all contemporary fighters originated in a progressive company, blessed with a design office made up of extremely gifted designers and highly talented engineers. All were prepared to demonstrate supreme faith in their ideas and incorporate into them a far-sighted understanding of the forthcoming conflict that was unmatched by others. Their efforts resulted in a completely radical private venture design, totally against the thinking of many members of the Air Ministry who were only prepared to consider metal machines bristling with defensive armament.

The battle to get the design into production continued until the last few days of 1939 when, due to the foresight and support of Sir Wilfred Freeman - the Air Council's Member for Research, Development and Production - a single machine was sanctioned as a light bomber with the ability to carry a 1,000 lb bomb load over a range of 1,500 miles. Such was the drive and determination within the company, that less than eleven months later the prototype Mosquito took to the air.

Flight tests soon established the machine as the world's fastest operational aircraft, a distinction that the type enjoyed for the next two and a half years. Being small and with the manoeuvrability of a fighter, the Mosquito was rapidly developed into a multi-purpose aircraft, a factor which allowed an increased economy of tooling in the factories of Britain, Canada and Australia. The bomber version increased its load and was eventually able to carry a single 4,000 pound 'Blockbuster' bomb, two 'Highball' bouncing bombs or a myriad of other explosive stores. It could also be used as a specialized target-marker from almost ground level to six miles high.

Although originally conceived as an unarmed bomber, fighter variants were rapidly developed. Armed with four 0.303 inch machine-guns in the nose and four 20mm Hispano cannon under the cockpit floor, the Mosquito took on the role of night-fighter defence of Great Britain during 1943. With minimal modification, the basic airframe was adapted to take airborne radar, thereby creating a formidable night-fighter version that prevented virtually any night intrusion by the enemy. Mosquitos had accounted for nearly 660 enemy aircraft destroyed by the end of November 1944 and brought down over 600 flying bombs during the first 60 nights of this new threat. The aircraft's armament became increasingly sophisticated: rocket projectiles slung under the wings allowed the Mosquito to pound ships, U-boats, harbour installations and other ground targets; and one variant was equipped with a 57mm cannon which automatically fired a six pound shell every one and a half seconds.

A combination of the two main aircraft requirements resulted in the creation of the fighter-bomber in 1941, a variant which was used extensively against the V-weapon sites and was later active in support of the D-Day landings. Of the more bizarre tasks performed, was that some machines were supposed to have delivered beer to the invasion beachhead!

Towards the end of the war the Mosquito was given a hook and folding wings to become the world's first twin-engined deck-landing aircraft - along with the ability to carry a eighteen-inch torpedo. The Mosquito was also the Allies' only real and effective long-range photo-reconnaissance and weather-reporting aircraft. It photographed and surveyed the whole of Europe to the borders of Russia, along with much of Africa and Asia. Urgent combat requirements consistently led from variant to variant as the war progressed. During the latter stages of the production run, the Air Ministry changed the mark designation system from Roman to Arabic, producing a much clarified system. However, in the interest of historical accuracy, both systems are used throughout this book.

From bomber to fighter, to photographic and weather reconnaissance, and also as a high-speed emergency airliner, the Mosquito airframe was easily modified to suit all needs. The combination of a superb airframe structure, coupled with a parallel effort to increase the power of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, meant that no matter what the requirement, whether it be increase in weight, or change in equipment, the DH.98 design could accommodate it; it was truly a multi-role combat aircraft.

This book takes the reader from conception - including the thinking behind the project - through the somewhat protracted birth and on into the development of what must be one of the most versatile aerial weapons systems ever devised.

This edition is not so much a revision as a ‘jack up the title and slide a new book underneath! The original 1990 book had been written to a much larger size, but was edited down to suit that publishers requirements. This edition has restored the work to its original what it was supposed to be and then revised to bring things up to date with current research.

If you get a copy - I hope you enjoy it!